This invention relates to surface preparation, cleaning, rinsing and drying of workpieces, such as semiconductor wafers, flat panel displays, rigid disk or optical media, thin film heads or other workpieces formed from a substrate on which microelectronic circuits, data storage elements or layers, or micro-mechanical elements may be formed. These and other similar articles are collectively referred to as a “wafer” or “workpiece.” Specifically, this invention relates to a workpiece process chamber for treating a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly to a novel process chamber for loading and processing a semiconductor wafer. The invention also relates to a new method for treating a semiconductor wafer.